How to use QR codes as teaching toolsThere are many ways that quick-response codes can be used in classroom lessons, offers educator and blogger Monica Burns. In this blog post, she writes that QR codes can make it easier for students to access certain websites and help students avoid search engines that can bring them to the wrong website. QR codes also are easy to make and time-savers in the classroom, Burns writes, while allowing deviation from routine to keep lessons fresh and engaging for students. Edutopia.org/Monica Burns’ blog (1/23)

School menus go mobile using smartphone appAfter noticing that most people — including parents — have access to a smartphone, Leigh Anne Peterson with the Oldham County, Ky., School Food Service, said she decided to replace paper menus with a smartphone application. Using the School Lunch By Nutrislice app, parents can view the complete school menu, including photos and descriptions of the food. WDRB-TV/WMYO-TV (Louisville, Ky.) (1/23)

Also the ASCD Worldwide Edition SmartBrief.

IPads are becoming more common in New Zealand’s schools
A school in New Zealand is requiring all Year 9 students to use iPads while a government committee is recommending all students and teachers have access to a tablet or laptop computer. “I think it’s both beneficial at a social and economic level because if we can ensure that New Zealand students are the most digitally literate in the world then they will have more opportunities both at an education level, but also at a job level,” said committee chairperson and National MP Nikki Kaye. Stuff (New Zealand)/Waikato Times (19 Jan.)